Gregor and the Cursed Blade
by Castronovo
Summary: Three years have passed since Gregor fulfilled his role in the Prophecy of Time. So when Gregor receives a desperate plea for help, he jumps at the chance to return to the Underland and his lover. But Gregor is about to discover that in the Underland, a lot can change in three years. Now, he's being thrown into another quest with an unknown future laying ahead.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoy this fan fiction story based of the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. I'm new to this site, although I'm not new to the literature/writing world. If you find any mistakes in my writing, please, please, please let me know! I will strive to make my writing perfect, but no one is perfect, so I guess I'll have to live with a few mistakes.**

 **Thanks (:**

 **~ Castronovo**

The quiet buzz of the city soothed Gregor as he lay in bed in his apartment. His thoughts wandered back to the Underland, as they usually did every night. Three years had passed since the last time he was in Regalia - three years of painful longing. Upon returning to the Overland, his mother had wanted to move to Virginia, but ultimately, the family had neither the time nor the money to make the move a reality. So instead, his mother had moved them to an apartment on the other side of New York City, as far away from Central Park and the Underland as possible, forbidding Gregor, Lizzie, or Boots to ever think of returning or getting anywhere near Central Park.

Gregor's thoughts drifted back down to Regalia, a vast city located miles and miles below New York City. He thought about all his friends down there - Mareth, Ripred, Vikus, Howard, Nike, Hazard, Nerissa, Luxa. _Luxa_. Just thinking her name made Gregor blush. Luxa, his Luxa, now the queen of Regalia. Her face appeared in his mind - her translucent skin, those striking, violet eyes, her silvery-blonde waist-length hair, the way her lips always curved up into her trademark half-smile. How Gregor missed Luxa; more than anything, he wished he was with her in the Underland once more.

His hand instinctively wrapped around the claw - Ares' claw - that rested on a chain under his t-shirt. Memories of the last time he was with his former bond flashed in his mind…

" _I've got to get in closer if I'm going to take him out!" said Gregor._

" _Hang on!" said Ares, and suddenly they were spinning over and over, and Gregor found himself directly under the the Bane's foreleg. He plunged his sword into the soft flesh. The Bane gave a strangled cry and jerked backward, freeing Gregor's blade._

" _Get out!" Gregor cried. "Get out, Ares!" He had a terrible sense of dread. Something was wrong about their position, their proximity to the Bane. Even before chis bat opened his wings, Gregor knew there was no way they could clear the claws. He thrust his sword in the Bane's direction, but it was too late. "Ares!" Gregor cried. "No!" Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the rat caught Ares's wing, spun him around so they were face-to-face, and pulled him forward. Gregor dropped Solovet's dagger and wrapped both hands around the hilt of his sword. As the Bane sank his teeth into Ares's neck, Gregor's blade pierced the rat's heart. For a moment, they hung there, interconnected, supported by teeth and swords and claws. Then the Bane made and unearthly sound and rammed his free paw into Gregor's chest. Gregor lost his grip on his sword and flew back into the air and slammed onto the stone floor. His hand went to his breastbone. The claws had torn aside his armor and opened a hot wet hole in his chest. His fingers pulsed with the rapid beating of his heart._

 _Above him, Ares still dangled from the Bane's jaws. The rat opened his mouth and the bat fell, lifeless, to the ground. The Bane pawed at the blade in his chest, trying to dislodge it. Then he became still and slowly sank down to four legs, onto his side as if to curl up, and rolled onto his back._

 _He knew they were dead. Both Ares and the Bane. Because only one creature was breathing. And it was Gregor._

Gregor squeezed his eyes shut and then reopened them, the memory vanishing as swiftly as it had appeared. He couldn't think about that now, especially since he was never going back down there.

Gregor sat up and rolled out of bed. His room was more spacious than the one in his old apartment, but not by much. His bed took up most of the space, while a dresser and a desk took up the rest of the room, leaving only a small amount of space to get around. Hastily, Gregor pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved blue shirt to hide the scars from his time in the Underland. He glanced at the old alarm clock beside his bed. 11:17.

Silently, he crept out of his room and out into the kitchen, using echolocation to navigate the dark, silent apartment. He quietly opened the cabinets, checking to see how much food the family had. The cabinets were always full; Gregor was so used to checking on the food supply that he forgot that his dad had started up teaching high school again.

Hastily, Gregor found a notepad and scribbled a message to his family, telling them he'd gone out for a walk and not to worry. He pulled on his sneakers and quietly unlocked the door. Slipping outside, he realized that he had no idea where he wanted to go, only that he needed to get away. A sudden idea popped into his mind - his old apartment!

Gregor jogged over to the subway. There were barely any people as he boarded the westbound train. He sat down in one of the empty seats as the train pulled away from the station. Gregor watched as the dark walls of the subway passed by in a blur.

Soon enough, the subway slowed to a halt, and Gregor jogged the five blocks to his old apartment. He climbed the steps to the front door and let himself into the lobby of the apartment complex. The familiar scenery hit him like a kick in the gut, and he almost doubled over in physical pain. He took a moment to compose himself, then walked over to the service stairs and began to climb to the floor his apartment was on.

He stopped when he reached the right floor, realizing that the apartment was probably occupied. Gregor turned his feet the opposite way and trudged back down the stairs, letting his mind go blank. He didn't realize he'd passed the lobby exit until he came to a door on the basement floor. Immediately, he realized where his feet had taken him - the laundry room.

Gregor turned the handle on the door and let himself in. At first, after he had moved apartments, Gregor had come here as often as he could, hoping for news from his friends in Regalia. But as the days passed, he began to accept the fact that the Underlanders were never going to contact him or need him ever again. Slowly, he started coming less until he stopped altogether. That had been almost a year and a half ago.

Gregor stepped into the laundry room. The familiarity of the room was heart wrenching, and Gregor almost had to take a rain check. He walked around the small room filled to the top with washers and dryers. As he passed the bolted grate that served as the gateway to the Underland, he did a double take. There, half concealed by the thick metal grate, was a scroll wedged into the air duct.


	2. Chapter 2

Gregor felt as if time had slowed down. He yanked the scroll out from the grate, running his hands over the cool animal skin. Slowly, he unrolled it and began to read. His eye widened at the contents of the letter.

 _Warrior,_

 _The fate of the Underland rests in your hands once again. We are at war once more, but we are against creatures we have never seen before - creatures of long-forgotten myth. We have never encountered creatures such as these before, but we have reason to believe that you hold the key to our salvation. It is of the utmost importance that you return to the Underland. If you care anything for us, you will return with the princess and the code-breaker. If you care for anything Queen Luxa, we hope that you will return to us. We will send a flier to retrieve you at the stroke of one at the Waterway. The fate of the Underland and all its creatures lay at your feet._

 _Vikus_

Gregor began to pant heavily. Go back? Back to the Underland? How would he pull that one off, especially with both his sisters in tow? His mom would have a heart attack if she found all three of them missing again. She had a conniption if she even suspected any of her children were thinking of the Underland.

After so much agony, so much indecision, here was a note begging for his help once more. After all, it had been three years - three long years of waiting for any word about his friends, his lover, and here was a plea note. Gregor took a deep breath. He was going. End of story. He didn't care what his parents said. Gregor glanced at his watch. 11:40. He had about an hour to get his sisters and get back to Central Park. He could make it.

Gregor took off at a sprint through the halls, not caring who he woke up. He raced to the subway station just as the train was about to leave. The ride felt extremely short this time as Gregor's mind whirred in thought. When he arrived at his stop, he practically pushed people out of his way and sprinted the rest of the way to his apartment complex.

At the door of his apartment, he quietly took off his shoes and slipped inside. Moving with uncanny silence, Gregor silently slipped into the room where his sisters slept.

"Liz! Wake up!" he whispered. His sister jolted awake, and Gregor put a finger to his lips in warning.

"What-" Gregor cut her off. "Get dressed and wake up Boots. We're going back." He whispered.

Lizzie's eyes grew round in excitement, and she nodded quietly. Gregor left the room as Lizzie tiptoed over to wake Boots. He silently made his way back to his room and closed the door. Furiously, he dug through his closet until he found a good, sturdy backpack. He ransacked his closet, taking every battery out of everything he could find. Just for the heck of it, Gregor grabbed his Swiss Army Multitool, a gift from his father last year. His mom hadn't been too keen on the idea at first, but in the end, she allowed Gregor to keep it.

Stuffing his supplies into his backpack, he quietly snuck back out into the hallway and went directly to the linen closet. There, he grabbed every flashlight on the shelf and every battery he could find and stuffed them into his bag.

He grabbed a pen and a notepad and scrawled a note to his parents. At first, he didn't know what to write. He finally settled on telling them where he had gone and that he loved them, and that he had Lizzie and Boots. He hoped they would understand why he had to go back; he couldn't just stand by and watch the whole Underland fall.

Gregor set the note on the counter where his family would find it. He turned around to find Lizzie and Boots standing in the hallway, their eyes bright with excitement. Boots gripped her older sister's hand tightly, barely containing her excitement. Gregor noticed that each girl had a backpack slung over their shoulder, but he didn't ask what the bags contained. He didn't want to know.

Quietly, he unlocked the front door and ushered his sisters outside before closing the door silently behind them. He hailed a taxi, and before long, they were speeding towards Central Park. Gregor checked his watch. 12:45. It had taken them almost an hour to get up, pack, and leave. Gregor exhaled in relief that they would make the deadline.

When they reached Central Park, Gregor paid the cabbie and pulled his sisters out of the taxi. Together, the three of them trudged to the stone slab that served as the entrance to the world below. Boots finally broke the silence.

"Are we really going back, Gregor? Back to see Temp? And Hazard?" She asked excitedly. Gregor couldn't help but smile at her eagerness.

"Yeah, Boots, we're going back," he replied, causing her to squeal in joy.

The three of them finally made it to the stone slab. Gregor had filled out in the last three years, and easily moved the slab off of the entrance into the earth. His sisters each climbed down carefully, with Lizzie first, then Boots. Gregor dug into his backpack for a flashlight until it was his turn to go down. Flicking the light on, he held it with his teeth as he descended the rocky stairs, smoothly moving the stone slab back into place overhead.

The darkness seemed to suffocate the three siblings as they walked down the stairs leading to the steep drop over the Waterway. Gregor checked his watch under the light of the flashlight. 1:00 exactly.

As if on cue, a velvety voice purred from the darkness. "Drop, Overlanders."

Without hesitation, Gregor and his sisters jumped from the ledge. Within seconds, they were all seated comfortably on the bat. It turned sharply and began to head towards Regalia. In the dim light of the huge underground cavern, Gregor got a better look at his mount below him.

The bat was larger than he had thought; not as big as Ares, but one of the biggest fliers he had ever seen in the Underland. It had dusty grey fur with black speckles everywhere like paint droplets.

"Excuse me, but what's your name?"

Gregor asked the bat.

"I am called Ronian," the bat replied in a

deep, masculine voice.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Gregor," said Gregor. Ronian nodded.

"Yes, I remember you. You are the warrior. You saved the Underland three years ago. We are all in your debt," said Ronian.

"Please, just call me Gregor," said Gregor tiredly. Behind him, Lizzie and Boots simultaneously yawned at the same time. "Hey, Ronian? Would you mind if we all slept for a while?"

"Certainly not, Overlander. I shall wake you when we reach Regalia." The bat replied. Gregor lay forward and closed his eyes. This was where he was meant to be. He was home.


End file.
